The IT Nerd

This part of the review covers the driving qualities of the Ford Explorer Limited. As I mentioned in part 2 of this review, the power from the engine is on tap and easy to control. You put your foot down, it goes. It’s that simple. The suspension feels firm but compliant. It soaks up the bumps of Toronto’s rather craptastic roads quite well. When changing lanes at highway speed, you’ll notice that there’s little body roll. While this isn’t a sports car, you can pop from lane to lane quickly without feeling unsettled. Not to mention you can take corners sharper than you think you should be able to in a vehicle of this size. However, if you take an on-ramp too fast, you’ll remember that this is a 4500 pound SUV in a hurry. While you’re driving the cabin is quiet. In fact you have to put your foot down to hear any engine noise. Not to mention that there is no wind noise to speak of. Tire noise is also absent as well. Clearly Ford spent a lot of time and effort to minimize noise inside the cabin.

I did mention in part 3 of this review that the steering wheel is the right size. I should also mention that it uses one of those electric power steering systems. Sometimes they don’t transmit all of the road feel a driver needs, which makes the driving experience a bit “video game” like. Ford’s implementation of this system feels quite good. I have no problem figuring out what’s underneath me. I should also note it’s speed sensitive so in tight spaces the steering becomes more precise.

Your vision in the drivers seat is very good. You sit high so it gives you a (for lack of a better description) commanding view of the road ahead. The rear view is decent, although I would strongly suggest that you fold down the third row seats when they’re not in use (or at the very least flip down the headrests) as they will block your vision. There were no blind spots to speak of which some of you will find surprising given how how big this vehicle is. I chalk it up to the big mirrors and making sure that they’re properly adjusted to eliminate blind spots.

My overall opinion is that if you want an SUV that you can drive, this is your vehicle. You will have zero complaints with the driving experience.

Check back on Saturday where I’ll cover the technology that’s in the vehicle. There’s a lot of hit to cover and most of it is geared towards making the driving experience safer.

This entry was posted on April 5, 2012 at 10:29 am and is filed under Products with tags Ford. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.